Shelton rarely threatened in the game, only getting a runner in scoring position twice all night.

"We just didn't make an adjustment at the plate when we should have," Gura said. "We didn't get our hands up on the bat with two strikes. Concato, he's an ace, he's a college Division I pitcher, and these kids don't see that all the time."

"He hits his spots, he throws hard and he hits the outside corners," Tice said. "Then he mixes in that slider there that gets you off-balance."

Shelton starting pitcher Vinny Backert allowed an Amity run in the first but matched Concato's zeroes until he ran into trouble in the fifth inning, giving up five runs capped by an Anthony Capozziello two-run double.

"Our pitcher started to climb the zone a little bit," Gura said. "If anyone has 11 hits in a game and seven to eight of them are doubles, it's going to be tough. They hit the ball."

Gura said it's nothing on Backert.

"We didn't push a run across the board," he said. "Whether that fifth inning happened or not, we didn't get a run home. We would have lost 1-0. We just didn't put enough quality at-bats together."

For Shelton, which has four underclassmen in its starting lineup, youth presents a challenge at times.

"We got a lot of young guys playing varsity for the first time this year and they're getting their licks," Gura said, "seeing some of the best pitchers in the state in the best conference in the state."

For Tice and the rest of the Gaels, this loss hurts a little more than others.

"This is a tough loss for us because this is our rival and we want to get the win, but it just didn't happen today," Tice said.

Gura said there's no time to dwell on the outcome.

"The best thing about baseball is there is always another one tomorrow," he said.